Wafers are sliced from a workpiece using a wire saw during slicing operations. The wire saw has a wire web of sawing wire and a setting device. The wire web is stretched in a plane between wire guide rollers that are mounted between fixed and moveable bearings. During each of the slicing operations, the setting device feeds the workpiece through the wire web along a feed direction perpendicular to a workpiece axis and perpendicular to the plane of the wire web. During each of the slicing operations, the movable bearings move oscillatingly axialy. The feeding of the workpiece through the wire web includes a simultaneous displacement of the workpiece along the workpiece axis using the setting element in accordance with a correction profile, which includes an oscillating component that is opposite to the effect which the axial moving of the movable bearings has on the shape of the sliced-off wafers.

Misting Lubricant may include the application of a liquid medium via a high-pressure mist nozzle instead of a conventional drip process. By utilizing misting lubricant, the lubricant may be evenly applied, and surface irregularities may be minimized, which may reduce or eliminate splashing. Misting lubricant may provide for a cleaner and more efficient material cutting process.

The invention relates to a method for separating a plurality of slices from workpieces (4) by means of a wire saw, wherein a wire grating (2) is tensioned in a plane between two wire-guiding rollers (1), wherein each of the two wire-guiding rollers (1) is mounted between a fixed bearing (5) and a floating bearing (6). The method involves delivering the workpiece (4) via the wire grating (2) by controlling the temperature of the workpiece (4) by wetting the workpiece (4) with a cooling medium, while simultaneously axially shifting the floating bearing (6) by controlling the temperature of the fixed bearing (5) with a cooling fluid according to the specification of a first temperature profile, and while simultaneously shifting the workpiece (4) along the workpiece axis by means of a control element (15) according to the specification of a second correction profile.

Slices are cut from workpieces using a wire saw having a wire array tensioned in a plane between two wire guide rollers each supported between fixed and floating bearings and comprising a chamber and a shell enclosing a core and having guide grooves for wires. During a cut-off operation, a workpiece is fed through the wire array perpendicular to a workpiece axis and the wire array plane. The workpiece is fed through the wire array while simultaneously: changing shell lengths by adjusting chamber temperatures in dependence on a depth of cut and a first correction profile; and moving the workpiece along the workpiece axis in accordance with a second correction profile. The correction profiles are opposed to a shape deviation.

A method uses a wire saw to cut slices from a workpiece. The wire saw has an array of saw wire tensioned in a plane between two rollers supported between fixed and floating bearings. During a cut-off operation, the workpiece is fed through the wire array with simultaneous axial movement of the floating bearings by adjusting the temperature of the fixed bearings with a cooling fluid in accordance with the temperature of the cooling fluid being in dependence on a depth of cut and correlating with a first correction profile, which specifies the travel of the floating bearings in dependence on the depth of cut. Also, the workpiece is fed through the wire array while simultaneously moving the workpiece along the workpiece axis in accordance with a second correction profile, specifying the travel of the workpiece. The first and second correction profiles are opposed to a shape deviation.

A cutting apparatus includes a cassette table on which a first cassette in which a frame unit, ring-shaped frame and wafer are housed, and a second cassette in which a simple wafer is housed. A first conveying unit having a first frame holding part holds the ring-shaped frame of the frame unit withdrawn from the first cassette and conveys the frame unit to a chuck table. A first wafer holding part holds the simple wafer withdrawn from the second cassette and conveys the simple wafer to the chuck table. A cutting unit cuts the wafer, and a second conveying unit conveys the frame unit from the chuck table to a cleaning unit. A second wafer holding part holds the cut simple wafer and conveys it from the chuck table to the cleaning unit.

A method cuts semiconductor wafers. The method includes: cutting a semiconductor ingot into a workpiece; and sawing the workpiece into slices using a wire grid having a fixed abrasive grain wire, while moving workpiece towards the wire grid. At a first contact of the workpiece with the wire grid, an initial cutting speed is less than 2 mm/min, coolant flow is less than 0.1 l/h and a wire speed is greater than 20 m/s. The workpiece is then guided through the wire grid until a first cutting depth is reached, and then the coolant flow is increased to at least 2000 l/h. The cutting speed is reduced to less than 70% of the initial cutting speed between the first contact of the workpiece with the wire grid up to a cutting depth of half a diameter of the cylinder, and is then increased.

In order to respond flexibly to various processing modes, such as forming curved surface shapes, when cutting a workpiece using a wire saw, this wire saw device (1) is provided with: a single robot arm (2) that is capable of moving freely by means of multi-axis control; a wire saw unit (3) that is detachably connected to the robot arm (2) via a tool changer (7); a wire (8) that spans a plurality of pulleys supported within the wire saw unit (3); and a workpiece cutting zone (20) that is established between the pulleys. The workpiece is cut to a prescribed shape by moving the robot arm (2) in a preset direction while running the wire (8) of the wire saw unit (3) and pressing the wire (8) against the supported workpiece.

The present invention aims at eliminating a need for a moving mechanism that moves a machining table and eliminating a need for a protective cover such as a bellows cover, and includes a machining table that holds a workpiece, a machining mechanism that machines the workpiece with a rotary tool while using a machining liquid, and a moving mechanism that linearly moves the machining mechanism at least in each of X and Y directions on a horizontal plane, in which the machining mechanism moved by the moving mechanism machines the workpiece with respect to the machining table, the machining table being fixed at least in the X and Y directions.

The present invention provides an ASC process automation device including: a loading part into which an ingot having been subjected to a wire sawing is input; a kerosene cleaning part for cleaning the ingot with kerosene; a precleaning part for precleaning the ingot; a main cleaning part for cleaning the ingot multiple times; a wafer peeling part for peeling the ingot to produce multiple wafers; and a transport unit for moving the ingot linearly and upward/downward while proceeding to the kerosene cleaning part, the precleaning part, the main cleaning part, and the wafer peeling part.